A few things have happened in the last few weeks which are worth noting on the blog, but have not morphed into entries due to time, travels or just plain thoughtlessness on the part of the blogger. 

First was the receipt of Carson’s passport while I was out hauling concrete blocks around Guatemala. It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about the paperwork involved with doing anything official for Carson (OK, I went and looked – summer 2007 was the last paperwork entry, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much!), but back in mid-February we went and applied for passports for both the boys and it brought the situation to light again. Nolan needed a birth certificate, and his passport arrived in the mail in just over a week. For Carson’s application we had to send his Oregon birth certificate, his Guatemalan passport and his Yamhill County adoption decree. It took a month for anything to come in the mail and then it was a letter requesting his Certificate of Citizenship (which BTW was generated from the visa in his Guatemalan passport, was a requirement before the birth certificate or the adoption decree could be generated and was issued by the Federal government to start with, so you would think they would have access to a database somewhere that would more reliable than a piece of paper. These are the same people that told us our fingerprints would expire every 12 months…. But I digress.) So after nervously parting with basically every official document we possess, his passport finally arrived in the mail! We hear (time will tell if it’s true) that as long as we keep a current passport for him he shouldn’t have to produce all those documents each time he has to prove citizenship in the future. Very cool.

Second, the weather has been fabulous the last few days, sparking mommy's need to create daisy chain necklaces for Carson and show him how to put food coloring in water to make daffodils turn colors - and generating weird looks from Daddy who apparently never did either.

Also worth noting was the fact that yesterday afternoon, our entire family took naps at the same time. Even better than that, mine took place on the hammock in the sun while reading a purely-for-the-heck-of-it book. (Fiction no less, which is very unlike me.) I’m sure it was the first time that’s happened since Nolan was born – maybe since Carson came home. It was lovely – and we made a note to try for some similar family bonding again very soon!

It's baby steps for Nolan as he figures out how to take off across the room on two feet! I told him he needed to wait until I was back (or maybe more appropriately, I told those around him to wait to encourage him), and apparently someone listened... or is good at maintaining the illusion for me:) Either way, he's been gaining more confidence every day and today he actually started to walk between two people.
It won't be long now!!

Mommy is back in the USA as of late Sunday night and is loving the chance to catch up with her boys. (And getting up-to-date on all the new tricks and habits they've developed while she was gone... like calling your brother a "poo-poo head", which is a little funny, but not acceptable.)
Big thanks to everyone who offered and helped Scott with the kids while I was gone - I know he appreciated the support!
More pictures from Guatemala have been added to the gallery posted here.

Looks like we are going to survive the week! Just one more rainy afternoon and a morning at church and then it's off to the airport to bring Elaine back home. There are a few more pictures of our week in the Guatemala 09 folder off the Photo Gallery link to the left.

See you soon, Mommy!

Dear Elaine,

Thank you for leaving that pound of elk hamburger in the back of the refrigerator where nobody would find it until it was perfectly ripe for doggie consumption. I enjoyed it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and didn't even save any to bury in the yard.

PS: Sorry about throwing up on the carpet (again).

Carson is the kind of kid where when you catch him in the dryer and give him a stern lecture about never climbing in the dryer and make sure he understands, he won't try to climb in the dryer again.

What he will do the next time you turn your back is climb into the washer instead...

Is this normal, leaving a sticker on your face for five days?
Maybe a little cookie bribery and a bath will take it off before church tomorrow...

The rain is coming down sideways today, but we used the day to get some yard work done despite the soggy conditions. (For the record it was 60+ degrees and gorgeous yesterday, which is just plain cruel, if you ask me.) One of the "must do" chores for the day was helping Carson start some pumpkin seeds so we can watch them grow over the next few months. He was pretty excited through the whole process of planting and I explained that next we needed to put them out in the rain because they needed water to grow. It made sense in my mind, but I realized when he was still staring at them about five minutes after we put them outside that he's used to a little more, say, instant gratification. This will be a good lesson in patience!

 

Mommy has been home sick for two days now, which means she's pretty OK with any activity that keeps the kids occupied between 5:30 (after day care) and 6:30 (when Daddy gets home).

The munchkins were feeling a bit under the weather today (yea, they look sick, don't they??) so we slept late (i.e. skipped church) and took an outing to the Riverfront Carousel in Salem instead. Because sometimes its nice to just throw "what you should do" out the window and roll with it...